1.
Irish language
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Irish, also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and it is also among the official languages of the European Union. The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland and it has the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe. The fate of the language was influenced by the power of the English state in Ireland. Elizabethan officials viewed the use of Irish unfavourably, as being a threat to all things English in Ireland and its decline began under English rule in the 17th century. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was a decrease in the number of speakers. Irish-speaking areas were hit especially hard, by the end of British rule, the language was spoken by less than 15% of the national population. Since then, Irish speakers have been in the minority, efforts have been made by the state, individuals and organisations to preserve, promote and revive the language, but with mixed results. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 Census, these numbers had increased to 94,000 and 1.3 million, there are several thousand Irish speakers in Northern Ireland. It has been estimated that the active Irish-language scene probably comprises 5 to 10 per cent of Irelands population, there has been a significant increase in the number of urban Irish speakers, particularly in Dublin. In Gaeltacht areas, however, there has been a decline of the use of Irish. Údarás na Gaeltachta predicted that, by 2025, Irish will no longer be the language in any of the designated Gaeltacht areas. Survey data suggest that most Irish people think highly of Irish as a marker of identity. It has also argued that newer urban groups of Irish speakers are a disruptive force in this respect. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil the name of the language is Gaeilge, before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled Gaedhilge, originally this was the genitive of Gaedhealg, the form used in Classical Irish. Older spellings of this include Gaoidhealg in Classical Irish and Goídelc in Old Irish, the modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent dh in the middle of Gaedhilge, whereas Goidelic languages, used to refer to the language family including Irish, comes from Old Irish

2.
Irish republicanism
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Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic. This followed hundreds of years of British conquest and Irish resistance through rebellion and it launched the 1798 Rebellion with the help of French troops. The rebellion had some success, especially in County Wexford, before it was suppressed, a second rising in 1803, led by Robert Emmet, was quickly put down, and Emmet was hanged. The Young Ireland movement, formed in the 1830s, was initially a part of the Repeal Association of Daniel OConnell, primarily a political and cultural organisation, some members of Young Ireland staged an abortive rising, the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. Its leaders were transported to Van Diemens Land, some of these escaped to the United States, where they linked up with other Irish exiles to form the Fenian Brotherhood. They staged another rising, the Fenian Rising, in 1867, in the early 20th century IRB members, in particular Tom Clarke and Seán MacDermott, began planning another rising. The execution of the Risings leaders, including Clarke, MacDermott, Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, the elected members did not take their seats but instead set up the First Dáil. Between 1919 and 1921 the Irish Republican Army, who were loyal to the Dáil, fought the British Army and Royal Irish Constabulary in the Irish War of Independence. Talks between the British and Irish in late 1921 led to a treaty by which the British conceded, not a 32-county Irish Republic and this led to the Irish Civil War, in which the republicans were defeated by their former comrades. That same year, the movement took the decision to focus on Northern Ireland thereafter. The Border Campaign, which lasted from 1956 to 1962, involved bombings, the failure of this campaign led the republican leadership to concentrate on political action, and to move to the left. Following the outbreak of The Troubles in 1968-9, the movement split between Officials and Provisionals at the beginning of 1970. The Provisional IRA, except during brief ceasefires in 1972 and 1975, kept up a campaign of violence for nearly thirty years, directed against security forces and civilian targets. This began to change with a speech by Danny Morrison in 1981, advocating what became known as the Armalite. Under the leadership of Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin began to focus on the search for a political settlement. When the party voted in 1986 to take seats in legislative bodies within Ireland, there was a walk-out of die-hard republicans, who set up Republican Sinn Féin and the Continuity IRA. Following the Hume–Adams dialogue, Sinn Féin took part in the Northern Ireland peace process led to the IRA ceasefires of 1994 and 1997. However, another split occurred, with anti-Agreement republicans setting up the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, today, Irish republicanism is divided between those who support the institutions set up under the Good Friday Agreement and the later St Andrews Agreement, and those who oppose them

3.
Northern Ireland peace process
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In 1994, talks between the leaders of the two main Irish nationalist parties in Northern Ireland, John Hume of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, continued. These talks led to a series of joint statements on how the violence might be brought to an end, the talks had been going on since the late 1980s and had secured the backing of the Irish Government through an intermediary, Father Alec Reid. In November it was revealed that the British government had also been in talks with the Provisional IRA and this included statements that, The British government had no selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland. This statement would lead, eventually, to the repeal of the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the British government would uphold the right of the people of Northern Ireland to decide between the Union with Great Britain or a united Ireland. The people of the island of Ireland, North and South, had the right to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent. The Irish government would try to address unionist fears of a united Ireland by amending the Irish Constitution according to the principle of consent and this would lead, eventually, to the modification of the Articles 2 and 3. A united Ireland could only be brought about by peaceful means, Peace must involve a permanent end to the use of, or support for, paramilitary violence. On 6 April 1994 the Provisional IRA announced a temporary cessation of hostilities to run from Wednesday 6 April – Friday 8 April 1994. Five months later, on Wednesday 31 August 1994, the Provisional IRA announced a cessation of operations from midnight. Albert Reynolds, the Irish Taoiseach, said that he accepted the IRA statement as implying a permanent ceasefire, UUP leader James Molyneaux, in a rare slip, declared This is the worst thing that has ever happened to us. Loyalist bombings and shootings, and punishment beatings from both sides, continued, Friday 15 December 1994, Albert Reynolds resigned as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland following the collapse of his Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition. He was succeeded by John Bruton, heading a Rainbow Coalition of Fine Gael, Labour, the proposals were not welcomed by unionists and the DUP described it as a one-way street to Dublin and a joint government programme for Irish unity. Sunday 13 August 1995, Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin President, a member of the crowd called out to Adams to, bring back the IRA. In reply Adams said, They havent gone away, you know, Friday 8 September 1995, David Trimble was elected leader of the UUP, replacing James Molyneaux. Friday 24 November 1995, a referendum in the Republic of Ireland to change the constitution to allow divorce was narrowly approved, divorce had long been available north of the border. Preparatory talks were to lead to all-party negotiations beginning by the end of February 1996, US Senator George Mitchell was to lead an international body to provide an independent assessment of the decommissioning issue. Thursday 30 November 1995, Bill Clinton, then President of the United States, visited Northern Ireland, Wednesday 20 December 1995, blaming the Provisional IRA for recent killings of drug dealers, the Irish government decided not to give permanent release to a further ten republican prisoners. The main conclusion was that decommissioning of paramilitary arms should take place during all-party talks, the report was welcomed by the Irish government and the main opposition parties in Britain and the Republic, as well as the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party

4.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule

5.
The Troubles
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The Troubles is the common name for the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is described as a guerrilla war or low-level war. The most recent instalment of violence began in the late 1960s and is deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Belfast Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mainly took place in Northern Ireland, violence spilled over at times parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe. The conflict was political and nationalistic, fuelled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension, although it was not a religious conflict, a key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who are mostly Protestants and consider themselves British, want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, Irish nationalists/republicans, who are predominantly Catholics, want Northern Ireland to be reunited with the 26 counties which make up the Republic of Ireland in an independent united Ireland. This campaign was met with violence by loyalists who viewed the campaign as a stalking horse. This eventually led to the deployment of British troops, initially to protect Catholic civilians, the security forces of the Republic played a smaller role. More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, of whom 52% were civilians, 32% were members of the British security forces, there has been sporadic violence since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, including a campaign by anti-ceasefire republicans. The Troubles refers to the recent three-decade conflict between nationalists and unionists, the term the Troubles was previously used to refer to the Irish revolutionary period, it was adopted to refer to the escalating violence in Northern Ireland after 1969. The violence was characterised by the campaigns of Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups. It thus became the focus for the longest major campaign in the history of the British Army, nationalists regard the state forces as forces of occupation or partisan combatants in the conflict. One part of the Agreement is that Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom unless a majority of the Northern Irish electorate vote otherwise and it also established the Northern Ireland Executive, a devolved power-sharing government, which must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties. In 1609, Scottish and English settlers, known as planters, were given land escheated from the native Irish in the Plantation of Ulster. As the Penal Laws started to be phased out in the part of the 18th century, there was more competition for land. With Roman Catholics allowed to buy land and enter trades from which they had formerly been banned, tensions arose resulting in the Protestant Peep ODay Boys and Catholic Defenders. This created polarisation between the communities and a reduction in reformers among Protestants, many of whom had been growing more receptive to democratic reform

6.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
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It was the biggest and most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the successor to the original IRA and called simply the Irish Republican Army. It was also referred to as such by others. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, following a split in the republican movement, the IRA initially focused on defence, but it began an offensive campaign in 1971. The IRAs primary goal was to force the British to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland and it used guerrilla tactics against the British Army and RUC in both rural and urban areas. It also carried out a campaign in Northern Ireland and England against what it saw as political. The IRA called a ceasefire in July 1997, after Sinn Féin was re-admitted into the Northern Ireland peace talks. It supported the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and in 2005 it disarmed under international supervision, the campaign was supported by arms and funding from Libya and from some Irish American groups. As a result, the IRA launched a new strategy known as the Long War and this saw them conduct a war of attrition against the British and increased emphasis on political activity, via the political party Sinn Féin. The success of the 1981 Irish hunger strike in mobilising support and winning elections led to the Armalite and ballot box strategy, with more time, the British demand was quickly dropped after the May 1997 general election in the UK. The IRA ceasefire was reinstated in July 1997 and Sinn Féin was admitted into all-party talks. The IRAs armed campaign, primarily in Northern Ireland but also in England and mainland Europe, the dead included around 1,100 members of the British security forces, and about 640 civilians. The IRA itself lost 275–300 members and an estimated 10,000 imprisoned at times over the 30-year period. The organisation remains classified as a proscribed terrorist group in the UK, two small groups split from the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA in 1986, and the Real IRA in 1997. Both reject the Good Friday Agreement and continue to engage in paramilitary activity and this new IRA group is estimated by Police Service of Northern Ireland intelligence sources to have between 250 and 300 active militants and many more supporting associates. The Provisional IRA was organised hierarchically, at the top of the organisation was the IRA Army Council, headed by the IRA Chief of Staff. All levels of the organisation were entitled to send delegates to IRA General Army Conventions, the GAC was the IRAs supreme decision-making authority. Since 1969, there have only three, in 1970,1986, and 2005, owing to the difficulty in organising such a large gathering of an illegal organisation in secret

7.
United Ireland
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This proposal is advocated by Irish nationalists, while Unionists and many British nationalists support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom. The legally distinct region of Northern Ireland has been in existence since May 1921, such referenda may not take place within seven years of each other. The Government of Ireland Act 1914 provided for a unitary devolved Irish Parliament and it was signed into law in September 1914 in the midst of the Home Rule Crisis and at the outbreak of the First World War. On the same day, the Suspensory Act 1914 suspended its actual operation, in 1916, a group of revolutionaries led by the Irish Republican Brotherhood launched the Easter Rising, during which they issued a Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The rebellion was not successful and sixteen of the leaders were executed, the small separatist party Sinn Féin became associated with the Rising in its aftermath as several of those involved it were party members. The Irish Convention held between 1917 and 1918 sought to reach agreement on manner in which home rule would be implemented after the war, all Irish parties were invited, but Sinn Féin boycotted the proceedings. At the 1918 election Sinn Féin won 73 of the 105 seats, however, there was a strong regional divide, with the Ulster Unionist Party wining 23 of the 38 seats in Ulster. Sinn Féin had run on a manifesto of abstaining from the United Kingdom House of Commons, and from 1919 met in Dublin as Dáil Éireann, at its first meeting, the Dáil adopted the Declaration of Independence, a claim which it made in respect of the entire island. Supporters of this Declaration fought in the Irish War of Independence, section 3 of this Act provided that the parliaments may be united only by identical acts of parliament of the House of Commons of each parliament. A truce in the War of Independence was called in July 1921, from the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, this became the state of Ireland, and left the British Commonwealth in 1949, following the implementation of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948. Under the terms of the Treaty, it remained a matter for the Parliament of Northern Ireland to decide whether become part of the Irish Free State, the report of Boundary Commission in 1925 established under the Treaty did not lead to any alteration in the border. Sinn Féin favour a united Ireland, as does the Social Democratic, in 1999, Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution were amended to abandon the Republics territorial claim on Northern Ireland, although it still refers to itself officially as Ireland. A united Ireland outside of the UK has long opposed by all unionist. This opposition initially manifested itself in an electoral repudiation, particularly in Ulster and also in parts of Dublin, the religious denominations of the citizens of Northern Ireland are only a stereotypical guide to their likely political preferences, as there are both Protestant nationalists and Catholic unionists. Surveys identify a significant number of Catholics who favour the union without identifying themselves as unionists or British. Unionist paramilitary groups have opposed a United Ireland since the early 1900s, recent immigrants to Ireland, and their descendants, some of whom are neither Catholic nor Protestant, have differing views on the issue. However only those with UK or Irish Citizenship, and who are resident in NI, have a vote on the matter, most were described in the records as king with opposition. What prevented the consolidation of national power even by the Ard Rí was the fact that the island was divided into a number of autonomous

8.
Good Friday Agreement
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The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. Northern Irelands present devolved system of government is based on the agreement, the agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The agreement set out a series of provisions relating to a number of areas including, The status. The relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Issues relating to sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, decommissioning of weapons, justice, the agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, voters were asked whether they supported the multi-party agreement, in the Republic of Ireland, voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes to facilitate it. The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement in order to effect to it. The British-Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999, the Democratic Unionist Party was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement. The former text has just four articles, it is that text that is the legal agreement. Technically, this scheduled agreement can be distinguished as the Multi-Party Agreement, the vague wording of some of the provisions, described as constructive ambiguity, helped ensure acceptance of the agreement and served to postpone debate on some of the more contentious issues. Most notably these included paramilitary decommissioning, police reform and the normalisation of Northern Ireland, both of these views were acknowledged as being legitimate. For the first time, the government of the Republic of Ireland accepted in an international agreement that Northern Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the language of the agreement reflects a switch in the United Kingdoms statutory emphasis from one for the union to one for a united Ireland, the agreement thus left the issue of future sovereignty over Northern Ireland open-ended. The agreement reached was that Northern Ireland would remain part of the United Kingdom until a majority both of the people of Northern Ireland and of the Republic of Ireland wished otherwise. Should that happen, then the British and Irish governments are under an obligation to implement that choice. The two governments also agreed, irrespective of the position of Northern Ireland, in its white paper on Brexit the United Kingdom government reiterated its commitment to the Belfast Agreement. The agreement sets out a framework for the creation and number of institutions across three strands, the Northern Ireland Executive is a power-sharing executive with ministerial portfolios to be allocated between parties by the dHondt method. Strand 2 dealt with issues and institutions to be created between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

9.
Partition of Ireland
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The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct jurisdictions, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. It took place on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, today the former is still known as Northern Ireland and forms part of the United Kingdom while the latter is now a sovereign state also named Ireland, formally known as the Republic of Ireland. The Act of 1920 was intended to create two self-governing territories within Ireland, with both remaining within the United Kingdom and it also contained provisions for co-operation between the two territories and for the eventual reunification of Ireland. Since partition, a key aspiration of Irish nationalists has been to bring about a reunited Ireland and this goal conflicts with that of the unionists in Northern Ireland, who want the region to remain part of the United Kingdom. The British and Irish government agreed, under the 1998 Belfast Agreement, in its white paper on Brexit the United Kingdom government reiterated its commitment to the Belfast Agreement. The unionist MP Horace Plunkett, who would later support home rule, exclusion was first considered by the British cabinet in 1912, in the context of Ulster unionist opposition to the Third Home Rule Bill, which was then in preparation. The Curragh incident on 20 March 1914 had already led Westminster to believe that the British Army could not be trusted to carry out their orders in Ireland, the Home Rule Crisis was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. Westminster passed the Home Rule Bill on 18 September 1914 and it immediately received Royal Assent, at the time it was widely believed that the conflict would only last for a few months. Concurrent with the Conscription Crisis of 1918, support for Irish republicanism had risen in Ireland due to the length of the war, Irish republicans were further emboldened by successful revolutions in the Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Meanwhile, Irish unionists – most of whom lived in the northeast of the island – were just as determined to maintain the Union and it was intended that each jurisdiction would be granted home rule but remain within the United Kingdom. The government of Southern Ireland never functioned, the war for independence continued until the two agreed a truce in July 1921, ending with the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921. The new state had the status of a dominion of the British Empire, on 7 December 1922 the houses of the Parliament of Northern Ireland approved an address to George V, requesting that its territory not be included in the Irish Free State. This was presented to the king the day on 8 December 1922. Following independence, the state gradually severed all remaining constitutional links with the United Kingdom. In 1937 the Free State was renamed Ireland in its new constitution, in 1949 the state was declared to be a republic, under the Republic of Ireland Act. The Government of Ireland Act 1920, which came into effect on 3 May 1921, provided for separate self-governing parliaments for Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, the Irish War of Independence led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The treaty was given effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. Under the former Act, at 1pm on 6 December 1922, the treaty, and the laws which implemented it, allowed Northern Ireland to opt out of the Irish Free State

10.
Northern Ireland Assembly
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The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast, the Assembly is one of two mutually inter-dependent institutions created under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the other being the North/South Ministerial Council with the Republic of Ireland. The Agreement aimed at bringing an end to Northern Irelands violent 30-year Troubles, the Assembly is a unicameral, democratically elected body comprising 90 members known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. Members are elected under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation, the Assembly has been suspended on several occasions, the longest suspension being from 14 October 2002 until 7 May 2007. When the Assembly was suspended, its powers reverted to the Northern Ireland Office, powers in relation to policing and justice were transferred to the Assembly on 12 April 2010. The third assembly was dissolved on 24 March 2011 in preparation for the elections to be held on Thursday 5 May 2011 and this was the first assembly since the Good Friday Agreement to complete a full term. This was followed by a fourth term. After the May 2016 elections, the Assembly convened for a fifth term and that assembly dissolved on 26 January 2017, and a fresh election for a reduced Assembly was held on 2 March 2017. The Parliament was suspended on 30 March 1972 and formally abolished in 1973 under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, shortly after this first parliament was abolished, attempts began to restore devolution on a new basis that would see power shared between Irish nationalists and unionists. To this end a new parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, was established in 1973, however, this body was brought down by the Ulster Workers Council strike and was abolished in 1974. It received little support from Irish nationalists and was dissolved in 1986. The current incarnation of the Northern Ireland Assembly was first elected on 25 June 1998, however, it only existed in shadow form until 2 December 1999 when full powers were devolved to the Assembly. On 8 December 2005, three Belfast men at the centre of the alleged IRA spying incident were acquitted of all charges, the prosecution offered no evidence in the public interest. Afterwards Denis Donaldson, one of those arrested, said that the charges should never have been brought as the action was political. On 17 December 2005, Donaldson publicly confirmed that he had been a spy for British intelligence since the early 1980s, mr Donaldson was killed on 4 April 2006 by the Real IRA. Eileen Bell was appointed by the Secretary of State Peter Hain to be the Speaker of the Assembly, with Francie Molloy, the Northern Ireland Act 2006 repealed the Northern Ireland Act 2006 and thus disbanded the Assembly. The Northern Ireland Act 2006 provided for a Transitional Assembly to take part in preparations for the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland, a person who was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly was also a member of the Transitional Assembly

11.
Police Service of Northern Ireland
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The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the defunct Royal Ulster Constabulary which, although the majority of PSNI officers are still Ulster Protestants, this dominance is not as pronounced as it was in the RUC because of positive discrimination policies. The RUC was a police force and played a key role in policing the violent conflict known as the Troubles. As part of the Good Friday Agreement, there was an agreement to introduce a new police force based on the body of constables of the RUC. As part of the reform, an Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland was set up, the Police Act 2000 named the new police force as the Police Service of Northern Ireland, shortened to Police Service of Northern Ireland for operational purposes. All major political parties in Northern Ireland now support the PSNI, at first Sinn Féin, which represents about a quarter of Northern Ireland voters, refused to endorse the PSNI until the Patten Commissions recommendations were implemented in full. However, as part of the St Andrews Agreement, Sinn Féin announced its acceptance of the PSNI in January 2007. The senior officer in charge of the PSNI is its Chief Constable, the Chief Constable is appointed by the Northern Ireland Policing Board, subject to the approval of the Minister of Justice for Northern Ireland. The Chief Constable of Northern Ireland is the third-highest paid British police officer, the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police are respectively the highest-paid and second-highest paid British police officers. Each district is headed by a Chief Superintendent, districts are divided into areas, commanded by a Chief Inspector, these in turn are divided into sectors, commanded by Inspectors. In recent years, under new structural reforms, some Chief Inspectors command more than one area as the PSNI strives to make savings, in 2001 the old police divisions and sub-divisions were replaced with 29 District Command Units, broadly coterminous with local council areas. In 2007 the DCUs were replaced by eight districts in anticipation of local government restructuring under the Review of Public Administration, responsibility for policing and justice was devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 9 March 2010, although direction and control of the PSNI remains under the Chief Constable. PSNI officers have police powers throughout Northern Ireland and the adjacent United Kingdom waters. Other than in mutual aid circumstances they have limited police powers in the other two legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom—England and Wales, and Scotland. The Patten Report recommended that a programme of long-term personnel exchanges should be established between the PSNI and the Garda Síochána, the police force of the Republic of Ireland. This recommendation was enacted in 2002 by an Inter-Governmental Agreement on Policing Cooperation, the PSNI also has an education organisation named B safe, created by Dympna Thornton in 2006. The PSNI is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland deals with any complaints regarding the PSNI, and investigates any allegations of misconduct by police officers. The current Police Ombudsman is former Oversight Commissioner Al Hutchinson, who took over from Nuala OLoan in November 2007, the Oversight role ended on 31 May 2007, with the final report indicating that of Pattens 175 recommendations,140 had been completed with a further 16 substantially completed

12.
32 County Sovereignty Movement
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The 32 County Sovereignty Movement, often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm, is an Irish republican group that was founded by Bernadette Sands McKevitt. It does not contest elections but acts as a pressure group, the 32CSM has been described as the political wing of the Real IRA, but this is denied by both organisations. The group originated in a split from Sinn Féin over the Mitchell Principles, the restoration of Irish national sovereignty. To seek the immediate and unconditional release of all Irish republican prisoners throughout the world, the organisation was founded as the 32 County Sovereignty Committee on 7 December 1997 at a meeting of like-minded Irish republicans in Finglas in Dublin. The same division in the movement led to the paramilitary group now known as the Real IRA breaking away from the Provisional Irish Republican Army at around the same time. Bernadette Sands McKevitt, wife of Michael McKevitt and a sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands, was a prominent member of the group until a split in the organisation, the name refers to the 32 counties of Ireland which were created during the Lordship and Kingdom of Ireland. Before the referendums on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the 32CSM lodged a submission with the United Nations challenging British sovereignty in Ireland. The referendums were opposed by the 32CSM, but were supported by 71% of voters in Northern Ireland, in November 2005 the 32CSM launched a political initiative titled Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity. On 24 May 2014 Gary Donnelly, a member of the 32 Country Sovereignty Movement, was elected to the Derry, in July 2014 a delegation from the 32 County Sovereignty Movement travelled to Canada, to take part in a six-day speaking tour. On arrival the delegation was detained and refused entry into Canada, the 32CSM has protested against what it calls internment by remand in both jurisdictions in Ireland. The organisation says the Craigavon Two are innocent and have been victims of a miscarriage of justice, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement has often been critical of the Real IRAs military actions. However the group is considered a foreign terrorist organization in the United States, because the group is considered to be inseparable from the Real IRA. These alias organizations engage in propaganda and fundraising on behalf of, the 32CSM also operates outside of the island of Ireland to some extent. The Gaughan/Stagg Cumann covers England, Scotland and Wales and has a relationship of mutual promotion with a minority of British hard left groups

13.
Dissident Irish Republican campaign
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The main paramilitaries involved are the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and Óglaigh na hÉireann. They have targeted the British Army and Police Service of Northern Ireland in gun and bomb attacks, as well as with mortars and they have also carried out bombings that are meant to cause disruption. However, their campaign has not been as intensive as the Provisional IRAs, in 2007, the British government declared the end of Operation Banner, ending the four-decade long deployment of the British Army in Northern Ireland. As a result, the PSNI has since been the target of attacks. The dissident republican campaign began towards the end of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of May 1998 is generally seen as marking the end of the Troubles. Like the Provisional IRA, the main Ulster loyalist paramilitaries have also been on ceasefire, however, dissident loyalists have continued to engage in terrorist actions and violence also, although it is mostly unrelated to the republican campaign. To date, two British soldiers, two PSNI officers and two Prison Service guard have been killed as part of the republican campaign. At least 105 civilians have also killed by republican and loyalist paramilitaries,29 of whom died in the Omagh bombing carried out by the Real IRA. For a timeline of the campaign, see the timelines of Real IRA actions, Continuity IRA actions and Óglaigh na hÉireann actions. As a belligerent in what would come to be known as the Troubles, in August 1994, the Provisional IRA called a ceasefire. In January 1996 the Continuity IRA announced its existence and vowed to continue the campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. A month later, the Provisional IRA called-off its ceasefire because of its dissatisfaction with the state of the peace negotiations, on 13 July, the CIRA detonated a car bomb outside Kilyhelvin Hotel in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The blast caused damage and injured 17 people as they were being evacuated from the hotel. Over the following year it planted another three cars bombs in Belfast, Derry and Fermanagh, but all were defused by the British Army, the Provisional IRA called a second ceasefire in July 1997. On 16 September the CIRA detonated a van bomb outside the Royal Ulster Constabulary base in Markethill, the bombing happened a day after Sinn Féin joined the political negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement. In November 1997, high-ranking Provisional IRA members who opposed the ceasefire formed a group that would become known as the Real IRA. During the first half of 1998 the Real IRA and Continuity IRA launched a string of car bomb, there were car bombings in Moira on 20 February and in Portadown on 23 February. There was an attack on Armagh RUC base on 10 March

14.
Continuity Irish Republican Army
–
The Continuity Irish Republican Army, usually known as the Continuity IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA in 1986 and it is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and is designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. It has links with the political party Republican Sinn Féin and it sees itself as the national army of an Irish Republic covering the whole of Ireland. The security forces initially referred to it as the Irish National Republican Army, since 1994, the CIRA has waged a campaign in Northern Ireland against the British Army and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary. This is part of a campaign against the British security forces by dissident republican paramilitaries. It has targeted the security forces in gun attacks and bombings, as well as grenades, mortars. The CIRA has also carried out bombings with the goal of causing economic harm and/or disruption, to date, it has been responsible for the death of one PSNI officer. The CIRA is not as big and has not been as active as the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA has its origins in a split in the Provisional IRA. In September 1986, the Provisional IRA held a meeting of its General Army Convention and it was the first GAC in 16 years. The only IRA body that supported this viewpoint was the outgoing IRA Executive and those members of the outgoing Executive who opposed the change comprised a quorum. They met, dismissed those in favour of the change, and they contacted Tom Maguire, who was a commander in the old IRA and had supported the Provisionals against the Official IRA, and asked him for support. Maguire had also contacted by supporters of Gerry Adams, then and current president of Sinn Féin. Maguire rejected Adams supporters, supported the IRA Executive members opposed to the change, in 1987, Maguire described the Continuity Executive as the lawful Executive of the Irish Republican Army. He was the first police officer to be killed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and he was killed two days after the Real IRAs 2009 Massereene Barracks shooting in Antrim. In a press interview with Republican Sinn Féin some days later, regarded by some to be the wing of the Continuity IRA. In 2013, the Continuity IRAs South Down Brigade threatened a Traveller family in Newry, there were negotiations with community representatives and the CIRA announced the threat was lifted. It was believed the threat was issued after a Traveller feud which resulted in a bomb attack in Bessbrook. The Continuity IRA is believed to be strongest in the County Fermanagh - North County Armagh area and it also claimed the group orchestrated a riot during a security alert in Lurgan

15.
Cumann na mBan
–
Although it was otherwise an independent organisation, its executive was subordinate to that of the Volunteers. A meeting chaired by Agnes OFarrelly on 2 April 1914 marked the foundation of Cumann na mBan, branches, which pledged to the Constitution of the organisation, were formed throughout the country and were directed by the Provisional Committee. The first branch was named the Ard Chraobh, which held their meetings in Brunswick Street before, the constitution of Cumann na mBan contained explicit references to the use of force by arms if necessary. At the time the Government of Ireland Bill 1914 was being debated, in addition to their local subscriptions, members of Cumann na mBan were expected to support the Defence of Ireland Fund, through subscription or otherwise. Its recruits were from diverse backgrounds, mainly workers and professional women. In September 1914, the Irish Volunteers split over John Redmonds appeal for its members to enlist in the British Army. The majority of Cumann na mBan members supported the rump of between 10,000 and 14,000 volunteers who rejected this call and who retained the original name, patrick Pearse was appointed overall Commandant-General and James Connolly Commandant-General of the Dublin Division. By nightfall, women insurgents were established in all the rebel strongholds throughout the city – except two, Bolands Mill and the South Dublin Union held by Éamon de Valera and Eamonn Ceannt. The majority of the women worked as Red Cross workers, were couriers, members also gathered intelligence on scouting expeditions, carried despatches and transferred arms from dumps across the city to insurgent strongholds. Some members of Cumann na mBan were also members of the Citizen Army, Constance Markievicz is said to have shot and killed a policeman at St Stephens Green during the opening phase of the hostilities. Helena Molony was among the Citizen Army company which attacked Dublin Castle and subsequently occupied the adjacent City Hall, at the Four Courts the women of Cumann na mBan helped to organise the evacuation of buildings at the time of surrender and to destroy incriminating papers. This was exceptional, more typical was the General Post Office, the building was then coming under sustained shell and machine-gun fire, and heavy casualties were anticipated. The following day the leaders at the GPO decided to negotiate surrender, Pearse asked Cumann na mBan member Elizabeth OFarrell to act as a go-between. Under British military supervision she brought Pearses surrender order to the units still fighting in Dublin. Jailed at the time, she became the Minister for Labour of the Irish Republic from 1919 to 1922, during the Anglo-Irish War, its members were active. They hid arms and provided safe houses for volunteers, helped run the Dáil Courts and local authorities, in the Irish elections of May 1921, Markievicz was joined by fellow Cumann na mBan members Mary MacSwiney, Dr. Ada English and Kathleen Clarke as Teachtaí Dála. On 7 January 1922 the Anglo-Irish Treaty was approved by the Second Dáil by a vote of 64–57. On 5 February a convention was held to discuss this, and 419 Cumann na mBan members voted against as opposed to 63 in favour, in the ensuing Civil War, its members largely supported the anti-Treaty Republican forces

16.
Irish Republican Liberation Army
–
The Irish Republican Liberation Army is an Irish paramilitary self-styled vigilante group in support of a united Ireland. Although much of its origins are as yet unknown, the IRLA had attracted attention with its threats of paramilitary action, the IRLA is centred on Belfast in the Ardoyne area. The Irish News suggested that its membership were from a County Antrim family with Loyalist Volunteer Force connections, another theory was that the groups was supposed to have started in 2006 by dissidents from CIRA who split to form either the IRLA or the Continuity Liberation Movement. Veteran west Belfast activist, Geraldine Taylor, a candidate in the Assembly elections, the threat was said to have come from the apparently self-styled vigilante group, the IRLA. Further to this, two other republicans were also warned of the danger to their lives, in November 2007, the group also claimed responsibility for the shotgun attack that wounded a police officer driving away from his sons school in Derry. The Independent Monitoring Commission said the IRLA has an arms collection. In the twentieth IMC report, the IRLA was set to be a essentially a group of taking a republican banner in order to give supposed status to their activities. Although the group committed at least one other shooting it was not recognised as immediately threatening, mcNulty replied that As a matter of normal policy and practice we do not comment on organisations not on the proscribed list

17.
Real Irish Republican Army
–
The Real Irish Republican Army or Real IRA, also referred to as the New IRA, is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation which aims to bring about a united Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members and it is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and designated as a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and the United States. Since its formation, RIRA has waged a campaign in Northern Ireland against the Police Service of Northern Ireland —formerly the Royal Ulster Constabulary —and the British Army, the RIRA is the largest and most active of the dissident republican paramilitary groups operating against the British security forces. It has targeted the security forces in gun attacks and bombings, the organisation has also been responsible for bombings in Northern Ireland and England with the goal of causing economic harm and/or disruption. The most notable of these was the 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people, after that bombing the RIRA went on ceasefire, but began operations again in 2000. In March 2009 it claimed responsibility for an attack on Massereene Barracks which killed two British soldiers, the first to be killed in Northern Ireland since 1997, the Real IRA has also been involved in vigilantism, mainly against alleged drug dealers and organised crime gangs. In Dublin in particular it has accused of extortion and engaging in feuds with these gangs. In July 2012 it was reported that Republican Action Against Drugs, as before, the group continues to refer to itself as the Irish Republican Army, but the new group has been referred as the New IRA in the press. In July 1997 the Provisional IRA called a ceasefire, on 10 October 1997 a Provisional IRA General Army Convention was held in Falcarragh, County Donegal. He was backed by his partner and fellow Executive member Bernadette Sands McKevitt, the two dissidents were outmanoeuvred by the leadership and were left isolated. The convention backed the line, and on 26 October McKevitt. In November 1997 McKevitt and other dissidents held a meeting in a farmhouse in Oldcastle, County Meath, the name Real IRA entered common usage when members set up a roadblock in Jonesborough, County Armagh and told motorists Were from the IRA. The RIRAs objective is a united Ireland by forcing the end of British sovereignty over Northern Ireland through the use of physical force, the organisation rejects the Mitchell Principles and the Good Friday Agreement, comparing the latter to the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty which resulted in the partition of Ireland. The organisation aims to uphold an uncompromising form of Irish republicanism and opposes any political settlement that falls short of Irish unity and he did not die for nationalists to be equal British citizens within the Northern Ireland state. The RIRA adopted a tactic of bombing town centres to damage the infrastructure of Northern Ireland. The organisations first action was a bombing in Banbridge, County Down on 7 January 1998. The intention was to explode a 300 lb car bomb, the RIRA continued its campaign in late February with bombings in Moira, County Down and Portadown, County Armagh. On 9 May the organisation announced its existence, in a telephone call to Belfast media claiming responsibility for a mortar attack on a police station in Belleek

18.
Irish Republican Socialist Party
–
The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP is a republican socialist party active in Ireland. It is often referred to as the wing of the Irish National Liberation Army paramilitary group. And claims the legacy of socialist revolutionary James Connolly, who founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party in 1896 and was executed after the Easter Rising of 1916. The Irish Republican Socialist Party was founded at a meeting on 8 December 1974 in the Spa Hotel in Lucan, near Dublin, by members of Official Sinn Féin. According to the IRSP,80 people were in attendance, a paramilitary wing, the Irish National Liberation Army, was founded the same day, although its existence was intended to be kept hidden until such a time that the INLA could operate effectively. Costello was elected as the partys first chairperson and the Armys first chief of staff, together, the IRSP and the INLA referred to themselves as the Irish Republican Socialist Movement. Former Unity MP for Mid-Ulster Bernadette McAliskey served on the executive of the IRSP and she resigned following the failure of a motion to be passed which would have brought the INLA under the control of the IRSP Ard Comhairle. This led to the resignation of half the Ard Comhairle, which weakened the party, Tony Gregory, a future Dublin TD, was also a member for a short time. Its poor showing in the 1977 Irish general election, and the assassination of Seamus Costello, Costello had been expelled from the Official Irish Republican Army following a court-martial, and from Official Sinn Féin on the same basis. In 1977, Costello was shot dead in his car by a man armed with a shotgun and his supporters blamed the Official IRA for the killing. Three members of the INLA died in the 1981 Irish hunger strike in HM Prison Maze, also known as Long Kesh, Patsy OHara, Kevin Lynch, and Michael Devine. In the 2000s and 2010s, the IRSP has been involved in campaigns and political protests, mainly around Belfast and Derry, in November 2016 after a number of raids on members of the partys homes. The IRSP issued a warning saying the PSNI were playing with fire, in 1981, party members Gerry Kelly and Sean Flynn won two seats on the Belfast City Council in a joint campaign with the Peoples Democracy party. The candidates all poll well but fail to secure a seat, candidate Paul Gallagher of Strabane missed out on a seat by just a single vote. The IRSP has explained its lack of participation in elections as due to limited resources. The party is a supporter of Irish republicanism, it believes a united Ireland can only be achieved through armed action. While being republican the party is also socialist and Marxist and supports the establishment of an all-Ireland Workers republic, the IRSP is in favour of an All-Ireland, democratically controlled, unarmed police force. The IRSP are not abstentionist in principle but they would support abstentionism in certain situations for tactical reasons, Party members are often referred to as the Irps

19.
Irish Independent
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The Irish Independent is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media and Irelands largest-selling daily newspaper. Aside from its material, the Independent also publishes a weekly supplement in the Irish language called Seachtain. It is a sister of the broadsheet Sunday Independent, since May 2012, the Irish Independent has been controlled by billionaire Denis OBrien after OBrien acquired a majority shareholding of parent company. Traditionally a broadsheet newspaper, it introduced a compact size in 2004. The Irish Independent described the 1916 Easter Rising as insane and criminal, in 1924, the traditional nationalist newspaper, the Freemans Journal, merged with the Irish Independent. Until October 1986 the papers masthead over the editorial contained the words incorporating the Freemans Journal, during the Spanish Civil War, the Irish Independents coverage was strongly pro-Franco, the paper criticized the De Valera government for not intervening on behalf of the Spanish Nationalists. In the 1970s, it was taken over by former Heinz chairman Tony OReilly, under his leadership, it became a more populist, market liberal newspaper—populist on social issues, but economically right-wing. By the mid-nineties its allegiance to Fine Gael had ended, in the 1997 general election, it endorsed Fianna Fáil under a front page editorial, entitled Its Payback Time. On 27 September 2005, a fortnight after the paper published its centenary edition and he was replaced by Gerry ORegan, who had until then been editor of the Irish Independents sister paper, the Evening Herald. The newspapers previous editor Stephen Rae was also editor of the Evening Herald and was appointed editor in September 2012. Fionnan Sheahan was appointed editor in January 2015, Denis OBrien successfully acquired a majority shareholding the newspaper parent company INM in May 2012. The New Irish Writing Page is the creative writing feature of its kind in any Irish or British newspaper. The Irish Independent, in cooperation with the Institute of Education, produces Exam Brief and this supplement is published in February, March and April each year. Excluding The Sun and the Daily Mirror, most of the content of which are produced in the United Kingdom, iNM-owned or partly owned titles have 58% of the newspaper market on Sunday. With the closure of the Evening Press, the Independents Evening Herald is now the only Irish national evening newspaper, another sister paper is the Sunday Independent. Other newspapers in the Independent News & Media group include the Irish Daily Star, the Independent News and Media Group had a major share in the Sunday Tribune, a Sunday broadsheet before its closure in 2011. The Independent News and Media Group also owns online business directory site Your Local that provides business information on approximately 100,000 Irish businesses. Circulation was 162,582 for the period January to December 2006, circulation was 149,906 for the period July to December 2009

20.
Belfast Telegraph
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The Belfast Telegraph is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and its first edition cost half a penny and ran to four pages covering the Franco-Prussian war and local news. The evening edition of the newspaper was called the Sixth Late. Its competitors are The News Letter and The Irish News but the editions of the London-based red tops are also competitors. The Belfast Telegraph was entirely broadsheet until 19 February 2005, when the Saturday morning edition was introduced, the weekday morning Compact Edition, launched on 22 March 2005, struggled to replicate the evening newspapers success. Its editorial content has been much more tabloid, with a greater entertainment story count than the evening paper, much prominence is given to English-based sport, and some general features and columns are shared with The Independent and Irish Independent. The paper now publishes two editions daily, Belfast Telegraph final edition and the North West Telegraph which is distributed in Derry, circulation was 109,571 for the period July to December 2002. Circulation was 68,024 for the period January to June 2009, circulation was 49,228 for the period January to June 2013. Circulation was 41,912 for the period January to June 2016, circulation was 40,042 for the period July to December 2016. The Belfast Telegraph is the title of Independent News & Media Ltd. It carries many supplements including, nijobfinder - appears in the paper every Tuesday and Friday, the nijobfinder brand launched its website in December 2008, www. nijobfinder. co. uk, which quickly rose to prominence to provide be the number one Job Site in Northern Ireland. An ad in nijobfinder is read by 466,000 people making it the no 1 resource for finding employment in Northern Ireland, nicarfinder - is the Wednesday supplement, every ad published with nicarfinder is seen by 130,000 people. Nicarfinder launched a new version of their website, www. nicarfinder. co. uk, in May 2012, it has one of the most powerful search engines offering users unique functionality in car search. HomeFinder - the property supplement, focusing on the home - from interior decor, to house prices, propertynews. com is the topmost property website in Northern Ireland, showing thousands of houses currently on the market and content from the Home Finder. Weekend Supplement OutThere Guide - the OutThere guide is printed monthly and is a resource for those socialising around Northern Ireland, family Life - won supplement of the year in the 2016 CIPR NI Media Awards They ceased to print the Irelands Saturday Night sports evening newspaper in July 2008. A sister paper is Sunday Life, also associated is Ads for Free. And the paper holds the contract for The Daily Mirror, The Sun, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Irish Daily Star, The Daily Star. The Belfast Telegraph was named as Best UK Regional Newspaper of the Year 2012 by the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards

21.
Omagh bombing
–
The Omagh bombing was a car bombing that took place on 15 August 1998 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army, a Provisional Irish Republican Army splinter group who opposed the IRAs ceasefire, the bombing killed 29 people as well as injuring some 220 others, the highest death toll from a single incident during the Troubles. Telephoned warnings had been sent about 40 minutes beforehand, but were claimed to be inaccurate, the bombing caused outrage both locally and internationally, spurred on the Northern Ireland peace process, and dealt a severe blow to the Dissident republican campaign. The Real IRA apologised and declared a ceasefire shortly after, both unionists and Irish nationalists were killed and injured. It has been alleged that the British, Irish and US intelligence agencies had information which could have prevented the bombing and this information was not given to the local police, the Royal Ulster Constabulary. In 2008 it was revealed that British intelligence agency GCHQ was monitoring conversations between the bombers as the bomb was being driven into Omagh. A2001 report by the Police Ombudsman said that the RUC Special Branch failed to act on prior warnings, the RUC has obtained circumstantial and coincidental evidence against some suspects, but it has not come up with anything to convict anyone of the bombing. Colm Murphy was tried, convicted, and then released after it was revealed that the Gardaí forged interview notes used in the case, Murphys nephew, Sean Hoey, was also tried and found not guilty. In June 2009, the victims families won a GB£1.6 million civil action against four defendants, in April 2014, Seamus Daly was charged with the murders of those killed, however, the case against him was withdrawn in February 2016. Negotiations to end the Troubles had failed in 1996 and there was a resumption of political violence, the peace process later resumed, and it reached a point of renewed tension in 1998, especially following the deaths of three Catholic children in Orange Order-related violence in mid-July. Sinn Féin had accepted the Mitchell Principles, which involved commitment to non-violence, Dissident members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, who saw this as a betrayal of the republican struggle for a united Ireland, left to form the Real Irish Republican Army in October 1997. The RIRA began its campaign with an attempted car bombing in Banbridge, County Down on 7 January 1998. Later that year, it mounted attacks in Moira, Portadown, Belleek, Newtownhamilton and Newry, as well as bombing Banbridge again on 1 August, Omagh had been bombed twice before. On 17 May 1973, four off-duty British Army soldiers were killed by a Provisional IRA booby-trap bomb while getting into a car, outside the Knock-na-Moe Castle Hotel, one died of his injuries on 3 June 1973. On 25 June 1973, three Provisional IRA volunteers were killed in a bomb explosion while travelling in a car on Gortin Road. On 13 August, a maroon Vauxhall Cavalier was stolen from outside a block of flats in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, at that time it bore the County Donegal registration number of 91 DL2554. The perpetrators replaced its Republic of Ireland number plates with false Northern Ireland plates, on the day of the bombing, they drove the car across the Irish border and at about 14,19 parked the vehicle outside S. D. Kells clothes shop in Omaghs Lower Market Street, on the side of the town centre

22.
2001 Ealing bombing
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The bomb was in a grey Saab 9000 which exploded at around midnight, injuring seven people. Debris caused by the bomb spread more than 200 m, around £200,000 of damage was caused. Experts regarded the bomb to be designed to look spectacular on CCTV for the purposes of armed propaganda rather than to large numbers of injuries. The attack came months after the Real IRA bombed the BBC Television Centre, after Ealing, the bombers targeted a new attack on Birmingham on 3 November, but which ultimately failed. In November 2001, three men – Noel Maguire, Robert Hulme and his brother Aiden Hulme – were arrested in connection with the three bomb attacks and they were all later convicted at the Old Bailey on 8 April 2003. Robert and Aiden Hulme were each jailed for 20 years, Noel Maguire, who the judge said played a major part in the bombing conspiracy, was sentenced to 22 years. Two other men, James McCormack, of County Louth, and John Hannan, of Newtownbutler, McCormack, who played the most serious part of the five, the judge said, was jailed for twenty-two years. John Hannan, who was seventeen at the time of the incidents, was sixteen years detention. Chronology of the Northern Ireland Troubles List of London bombings 2001, two admit Real IRA bomb plot

23.
Marian Price
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Marian Price, also known by her married name as Marian McGlinchey, is a prominent Irish republican. Price was jailed for her part in the IRA London bombing campaign of 1973 and she was part of a unit that placed four car bombs in London on 8 March 1973. The 1973 Old Bailey bombing and that of the Whitehall army recruitment centre saw 200 injured, one man died of a heart attack. The sisters were apprehended along with Hugh Feeney, Gerry Kelly and they were tried and convicted at the Great Hall in Winchester Castle on 14 November after two days of deliberation by the jury. Marian Price was sentenced to two life terms and she and her sister Dolours Price, along with Kelly and Feeney, immediately went on hunger strike in a campaign to be repatriated to a prison in Northern Ireland. The hunger strike lasted over 200 days, with the hunger strikers being force-fed by prison authorities for 167 of them, in an interview with Suzanne Breen, Price described being force-fed, Four male prison officers tie you into the chair so tightly with sheets you cant struggle. You clench your teeth to try to keep your mouth closed and they force a wooden clamp with a hole in the middle into your mouth. Then, they insert a big rubber tube down that and they throw whatever they like into the food mixer – orange juice, soup, or cartons of cream if they want to beef up the calories. They take jugs of this gruel from the mixer and pour it into a funnel attached to the tube. The force-feeding takes 15 minutes but it feels like forever, youre terrified the food will go down the wrong way and you wont be able to let them know because you cant speak or move. Youre frightened youll choke to death, Marian Price was freed in 1980 and resumed a private life, emerging only in the 1990s as a vocal opponent of Sinn Féins peace strategy. Of the Good Friday Agreement she said, It is not, certainly not, Price gave the graveside oration at the funeral of Joseph OConnor, a member of the Real IRA. She is a prominent Republican and member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, in 2011 she was charged with providing property for the purposes of terrorism. On 15 May 2011, she was charged with encouraging support for an illegal organisation and this related to her involvement in a statement given at an Easter Rising rally in Derry in 2011. On the same day the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson revoked her release from prison on licence, Paterson said the decision was made because the threat posed by Price had significantly increased. Price was the female inmate at Maghaberry prison in Antrim from May 2011 until she was moved to the hospital wing of Hydebank prison in February 2012. In May 2012, at a rally in her support, Prices husband, Gerry McGlinchey, the charges against Price and three men from Derry were later dismissed at Derry Magistrates Court in May 2012. On 7 June 2012, a protest close to Times Square in Manhattan called for Price to be released from what her family describes as internment, on 30 May 2013, Price was released from prison after a decision by the Parole Commissioners

24.
Republican Action Against Drugs
–
It targeted those who it claims are drug dealers. In July 2012, it was announced that RAAD was merging with the Real Irish Republican Army, the group formed in late 2008. Shortly afterward, it offered an amnesty to all drug dealers, the group claims to have an intelligence network within the Derry area and stated, We would never act unless we hold undeniable evidence that the person punished has been dealing in drugs. We regularly compile information on certain individuals – including CCTV footage, as its name suggests, it comes from an Irish republican background. In the 1990s, a group calling itself Direct Action Against Drugs operated in Northern Ireland, many believe DAAD was linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army. On the topic of politics, RAADs leadership said, There is absolutely no political agenda within our organisation and our only aim is to eliminate drug dealers from our society and put an end to them destroying our community. In an October 2010 interview with the Strabane Chronicle, a RAAD spokesman claimed all of its members are former republican volunteers who support the peace process. During an investigation into RAAD in June 2012, the home of the Sinn Féin Mayor of Derry, the group was the focus of a 2010 BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight documentary. In April 2010, RAAD announced its amnesty for drug dealers would end on 1 June 2010, in early June, the Derry Journal reported that RAAD had ordered ten drug dealers to leave Derry immediately. The following month, it claimed that it had given another Derry man 48 hours to leave the country, around the same time, a Derry teenager publicly apologised for having sold drugs after he was threatened by the group. In July 2010, a 42-year-old Derry man was arrested police found a scanning device, paramilitary clothing and balaclavas in his car. He was described in court as a key member of RAAD, a detective said that attacks by RAAD had lessened since the mans arrest. He was electronically tagged and put under curfew, RAAD claimed its first killing in February 2012 when it shot dead Andrew Allen, a father of two, at his home in Buncrana, County Donegal. Although this was denied by his family, the group claimed Allen had been warned to stop drug dealing but had not done so. They added that Allen was one of six people who would be executed, later that month, it was reported that RAAD had begun operating in North Belfast, although it is not known if the Belfast group was linked to the one in Derry. In June 2012, RAAD members attacked a PSNI vehicle in Derry with a blast bomb, by the time of the attack, many republicans were claiming that RAAD had become a political, dissident republican group. On 26 July, an announcement was made that RAAD was merging with the Real IRA and other dissident republican paramilitaries, the following is a timeline of actions that have been claimed by, or blamed on, Republican Action Against Drugs. 16 April, RAAD claimed responsibility for detonating a bomb at a house on Balmoral Avenue

25.
Clan na Gael
–
It has shrunk to a small fraction of its former size in the 21st century. As Irish immigration to the United States of America began to increase in the 18th century many Irish organizations were formed, one of the earliest was formed under the name of the Irish Charitable Society and was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. In the later part of the 1780s, a strong Irish patriot character began to grow in these organisations, the usage of Celtic symbolism helped solidify this sense of nationalism and was most noticeably found in the use of the name Hibernian. In 1858, the Irish Republican Brotherhood had been founded in Dublin by James Stephens, in response to the establishment of the IRB in Dublin, a sister organization was founded in New York City, the Fenian Brotherhood, led by OMahony. This arm of Fenian activity in America produced a surge in radicalism among groups of Irish immigrants, many of whom had emigrated from Ireland during. In October,1865, the Fenian Philadelphia Congress met and appointed the Irish Republican Government in the US, but in 1865, in Ireland, the IRB newspaper The Irish People had been raided by the police and the IRB leadership was imprisoned. Another abortive uprising would occur in 1867, but the British remained in control, after the 1865 crackdown in Ireland, the American organization began to fracture over what to do next. Made up of veterans of the American Civil War, a Fenian army had been formed, the resulting Fenian Raids strained US–British relations. The level of American support for the Fenian cause began to diminish as the Fenians were seen as a threat to stability in the region, upon the British withdrawal from Irish soil, it was believed, the Irish immigrants would return to their native land. The Fenian Raids were seen as an example of immigrant activity in US history. Very few US immigrants concerned themselves with their country as did the Irish. According to John Devoy in 1924, Jerome James Collins founded what was called the Napper Tandy Club in New York on 20 June 1867. This club expanded into others and at one point at a picnic in 1870 was named the Clan na Gael by Sam Cavanagh and this was the same Cavanagh who killed the informer George Clark, who had exposed a Fenian pike-making operation in Dublin to the police. Collins believed at the time of the founding in 1867 that the two feuding Fenians branches should patch things up. In 1874 John Devoy, with some help from Thomas Francis Bourke, was elected Chairman of the Executive Board of the Clan and was also chosen to execute the rescue of the prisoners. Bourke warned Devoy that there would be kickers and he would have to have a hand to control the Clan na Gael. John Devoy devoted all his time to project and oversaw the purchase of the bark Catalpa. The Clan engaged an American Captain George S Anthony as its Captain with New Bedford whaling crew, John received considerable help in running the Clan from Dr. William Carroll who was elected Executive Board Chairman in 1875 and between them they controlled Clan activity until 1882

26.
Saoirse Irish Freedom
–
Saoirse Irish Freedom is the monthly organ of Republican Sinn Féin. It replaced Republican Bulletin the first issue of which appeared in November,1986 to explain the reasons for the split in Sinn Féin and its format was eight A4 pages, continuing monthly until, in May 1987. In November of that year, Saoirse became an eight-page tabloid, since then, the paper has been produced as a 16-page monthly magazine. In June 1996 RSF first published an issue via the Internet, the name Saoirse Irish Freedom is taken from the 1910 -1914 publication, Irish Freedom. iupui. edu/digitalscholarship/collections/IrishRepublicanMovement

Irish language
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Irish, also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Irelan

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"Caution Children"

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Proportion of respondents who said they could speak Irish in the Ireland census 2011 or the Northern Ireland census 2011.

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A sign for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland, in English, Irish and Ulster Scots.

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The Pale - According to Statute of 1488

Irish republicanism
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Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic. This followed hundreds of years of British conquest and Irish resistance through rebellion and it launched the 1798 Rebellion with the help of French troops. The rebellion had some success, especially in County Wexford, before it was suppre

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The Battle of Killala marked the end of the rising

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Wolfe Tone circa 1794. Tone is considered by many as the father of Irish Republicanism

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Michael Dwyer

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Depiction of Robert Emmet 's trial

Northern Ireland peace process
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In 1994, talks between the leaders of the two main Irish nationalist parties in Northern Ireland, John Hume of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin, continued. These talks led to a series of joint statements on how the violence might be brought to an end, the talks had been going on since the late 1980s and had secur

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Martin McGuinness, George W. Bush and Ian Paisley in December 2007

Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population

The Troubles
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The Troubles is the common name for the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is described as a guerrilla war or low-level war. The most recent instalment of violence began in the late 1960s and is deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Belfast

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2009: the Ulster Banner flying over an Ulster loyalist area (foreground) of Derry, and the Irish tricolour flying over an Irish republican area (background) of the same city

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Political map of Ireland

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The fencing on the Belfast " peace line ". The peace lines are a series of high border barriers in Northern Ireland that separate Irish nationalist and unionist neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban interface areas in Belfast, Derry, Portadown and elsewhere. The stated purpose of the peace lines is to minimise inter-communal violence.

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The Battle of the Boyne (12 July 1690) by Jan van Huchtenburg

Provisional Irish Republican Army
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It was the biggest and most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the successor to the original IRA and called simply the Irish Republican Army. It was also referred to as such by others. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, following a split in the republican movement, the IRA initially focused on defe

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IRA members showing an improvised mortar and an RPG (1992)

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IRA re-enactment in Galbally, County Tyrone (2009)

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Republican colour party in Dublin, March 2009. The blue flag being carried at the front is that of "Dublin Brigade IRA".

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An IRA badge – the phoenix is frequently used to symbolise the origins of the Provisional IRA.

United Ireland
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This proposal is advocated by Irish nationalists, while Unionists and many British nationalists support Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom. The legally distinct region of Northern Ireland has been in existence since May 1921, such referenda may not take place within seven years of each other. The Government of Ireland Act 1914 pr

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18th-century depiction of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland who reigned from 1002 to 1014. He died fighting the Vikings in the Battle of Clontarf, which his forces won.

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Political map of Ireland showing the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

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The Lia Fáil (Irish pronunciation: [ˌlʲiːə ˈfɔːlʲ], meaning Stone of Destiny) is a stone at the Inauguration Mound (Irish: an Forrad) on the Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, which served as the coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland. It is also known as the Coronation Stone of Tara. In legend, all of the kings of Ireland were crowned on the stone up to Muirchertach mac Ercae c. AD 500.

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Kilkenny Castle, seat of Confederate Ireland.

Good Friday Agreement
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The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. Northern Irelands present devolved system of government is based on the agreement, the agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of

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A 'Yes' campaign poster for the Good Friday Agreement during simultaneous referendums in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland

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The offices of the North/South Ministerial Council on Upper English Street, Armagh, Northern Ireland

Partition of Ireland
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The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct jurisdictions, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. It took place on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, today the former is still known as Northern Ireland and forms part of the United Kingdom while the latter is now a sovereign state also named

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Political map of Ireland

Northern Ireland Assembly
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The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast, the Assembly is one of two mutually inter-dependent institutions created under the 1998 Good Fr

Police Service of Northern Ireland
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The Police Service of Northern Ireland is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the defunct Royal Ulster Constabulary which, although the majority of PSNI officers are still Ulster Protestants, this dominance is not as pronounced as it was in the RUC because of positive discrimination policies. The RUC was a police f

32 County Sovereignty Movement
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The 32 County Sovereignty Movement, often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm, is an Irish republican group that was founded by Bernadette Sands McKevitt. It does not contest elections but acts as a pressure group, the 32CSM has been described as the political wing of the Real IRA, but this is denied by both organisations. The group originated in a split

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32 County Sovereignty Movement

Dissident Irish Republican campaign
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The main paramilitaries involved are the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and Óglaigh na hÉireann. They have targeted the British Army and Police Service of Northern Ireland in gun and bomb attacks, as well as with mortars and they have also carried out bombings that are meant to cause disruption. However, their campaign has not been as intensive as the Pr

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Political map of Ireland

Continuity Irish Republican Army
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The Continuity Irish Republican Army, usually known as the Continuity IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA in 1986 and it is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and is designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom, New Zeala

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CIRA propaganda video

Cumann na mBan
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Although it was otherwise an independent organisation, its executive was subordinate to that of the Volunteers. A meeting chaired by Agnes OFarrelly on 2 April 1914 marked the foundation of Cumann na mBan, branches, which pledged to the Constitution of the organisation, were formed throughout the country and were directed by the Provisional Committ

Irish Republican Liberation Army
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The Irish Republican Liberation Army is an Irish paramilitary self-styled vigilante group in support of a united Ireland. Although much of its origins are as yet unknown, the IRLA had attracted attention with its threats of paramilitary action, the IRLA is centred on Belfast in the Ardoyne area. The Irish News suggested that its membership were fro

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Northern Ireland shown in Red

Real Irish Republican Army
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The Real Irish Republican Army or Real IRA, also referred to as the New IRA, is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation which aims to bring about a united Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members and it is an illegal organisation in the Republic of Ireland and designated as a terrorist organisat

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The damage caused by the 3 August 2001 Ealing bombing

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The damage caused by 30 June 2000 bomb

Irish Republican Socialist Party
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The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP is a republican socialist party active in Ireland. It is often referred to as the wing of the Irish National Liberation Army paramilitary group. And claims the legacy of socialist revolutionary James Connolly, who founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party in 1896 and was executed after the Easter Risi

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Irish Republican Socialist Party

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The Starry Plough is often used as a symbol to represent the Irish Republican Socialist Party, its armed wing the Irish National Liberation Army, and other Irish republican socialist groups

Irish Independent
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The Irish Independent is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media and Irelands largest-selling daily newspaper. Aside from its material, the Independent also publishes a weekly supplement in the Irish language called Seachtain. It is a sister of the broadsheet Sunday Independent, since May 2012, the Irish Independent has been controlled

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Irish Independent

Belfast Telegraph
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The Belfast Telegraph is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and its first edition cost half a penny and ran to four pages covering the Franco-Prussian war and local news. The evening edition of the news

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Belfast Telegraph offices, July 2010

Omagh bombing
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The Omagh bombing was a car bombing that took place on 15 August 1998 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army, a Provisional Irish Republican Army splinter group who opposed the IRAs ceasefire, the bombing killed 29 people as well as injuring some 220 others, the highest death toll from a sing

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The red Vauxhall Cavalier containing the bomb. This photograph was taken shortly before the explosion; the camera was found afterwards in the rubble. The Spanish man and child seen in the photo both survived. The photographer, who was with the same group of Spanish tourists, was killed.

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Lower Market Street, site of the bombing, 2001. The courthouse is in the background

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The scene in Market Street minutes after the bomb went off. Survivors are shown helping the injured

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Tyrone County Hospital, where many of the bomb victims were taken.

2001 Ealing bombing
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The bomb was in a grey Saab 9000 which exploded at around midnight, injuring seven people. Debris caused by the bomb spread more than 200 m, around £200,000 of damage was caused. Experts regarded the bomb to be designed to look spectacular on CCTV for the purposes of armed propaganda rather than to large numbers of injuries. The attack came months

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The damage caused by the bombing

Marian Price
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Marian Price, also known by her married name as Marian McGlinchey, is a prominent Irish republican. Price was jailed for her part in the IRA London bombing campaign of 1973 and she was part of a unit that placed four car bombs in London on 8 March 1973. The 1973 Old Bailey bombing and that of the Whitehall army recruitment centre saw 200 injured, o

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Graffiti supporting Price on the Falls Road, Belfast following her 2011 imprisonment

Republican Action Against Drugs
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It targeted those who it claims are drug dealers. In July 2012, it was announced that RAAD was merging with the Real Irish Republican Army, the group formed in late 2008. Shortly afterward, it offered an amnesty to all drug dealers, the group claims to have an intelligence network within the Derry area and stated, We would never act unless we hold

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RAAD graffiti in the Bogside area of Derry

Clan na Gael
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It has shrunk to a small fraction of its former size in the 21st century. As Irish immigration to the United States of America began to increase in the 18th century many Irish organizations were formed, one of the earliest was formed under the name of the Irish Charitable Society and was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. In the later part o

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Hindu-German Conspiracy

Saoirse Irish Freedom
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Saoirse Irish Freedom is the monthly organ of Republican Sinn Féin. It replaced Republican Bulletin the first issue of which appeared in November,1986 to explain the reasons for the split in Sinn Féin and its format was eight A4 pages, continuing monthly until, in May 1987. In November of that year, Saoirse became an eight-page tabloid, since then,